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CHRISTMAS DAY
25 December 2025
CHRISTMAS, CREATION & COP30
During Advent and Christmas, we celebrate God entering our messed-up world in Jesus, announcing God’s Kingdom of freedom, forgiveness and justice. This Advent also sees COP30, the latest global climate conference, hosted by Brazil. So, what does it mean for Jesus to be born into a world of ecological collapse, with climate disasters causing immense suffering and deepening existing injustices, with desperate migrants, and politicians dragging their feet, in plain denial or lining their pockets?
I suggest we focus on who Jesus is, what he’s done, and who he calls us to be. Jesus is Creator: “through him all things were made” (John 1:3). He knows the suffering of creation. Every melting. glacier, dying coral reef, migrant boatload is intensely experienced by Jesus. Secondly, Jesus is God incarnate: “the word became flesh and made his dwelling amongst us” (John 1:14). That word ‘flesh’ (sarx in Greek) deliberately includes not only people but animal flesh. It tells us that, in Jesus, the Creator became a creature. At Christmas, God identifies with a wounded creation, entering it to transform it. Thirdly, Jesus came to rescue not only people but his beautiful yet damaged creation: “For God did not send his Son into the world (kosmos in Greek) to condemn the world, but to save the world (kosmos) through him” (John 3:17). The Christmas story is truly ‘Joy to the World’ because the creator entered our broken world so it might be “liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God” (Romans 8:21).
As Christ-followers, we are ‘the children of God’, adopted and called to participate in creation’s liberation. Amidst suffering and violence, we are called to shine through simpler lifestyles and compassionate action, serving and pointing to the Light of the World. We are also called to speak up on behalf of victims of injustice human and nonhuman and speak out to those in power. In all this, we are never to lose sight of the fact that we can’t save the planet, but that God, Father Son and Holy Spirit, is creator, sustainer and saviour of the whole creation. During Advent and Christmas we celebrate God entering our created world in Jesus and we look forward to his second coming, when creation will finally be set free, redeemed and renewed. So, may I wish you a green and happy Christmas!
Revd Dr Dave Bookless
Revd Dr Dave Bookless is a CMS Mission Partner serving as Director of Theology for A Rocha International. A Rocha helps care for God’s creation in more than 20 countries around the world. He is also Priest-in-Charge of St Mary’s Norwood Greenof in multiracial Southall, West London, where he co-leads a monthly ‘Outside Church’ seeking to bring together God’s World and God’s Word. As part of his A Rocha role he is a Lausanne Catalyst for Creation Care and co-leads the global Lausanne / World Evangelical Creation Care Network (LWCCN) which has run 10 regional conferences with 1000+ delegates from 130 countries. Dave speaks around the world to conferences, colleges and churches, has a PhD from Cambridge University on biblical theology and biodiversity conservation, and has contributed to many books and articles. One of his books, Planetwise (IVP, 2008) has been translated into Chinese, Dutch, French, German and Spanish. Born and raised in India, Dave has a love for Indian food, Indian culture and Indian Christianity. Dave is also a qualified bird-ringer and loves birding, islands, running and mountains.
